Cable-railway mechanism



(No Model.)

T. BRADWELL.

GABLE RAILWAY MEGHANISM.

No. 403,512. Patented May 21,1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BRADVELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CABLE-RAILWAY MECHANISNI.

SPECIFICATION forming part cf Letters Patent No. 403,512, dated May 21, 1889.

Application filed January l2, 1889.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, THOMAS BRADWELL, a l

Improvements in Cable-Railway Mechanism,

which are fully set forth in the following' specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which- Figure l shows a longitudinal central and vertical section of a cable-way and of the aircylinder and well, the remaining part being shown in perspective or full outline. Fig. 2 is a front or full view of the plate e and its wheel c', under which the cable passes.

Like letters of reference denote like parts throughout.

The object of my invention is to prevent the accidents to the cable and grip which so frequently occur in passing a car from one cable line or system to the other, and which, as is well known, must be done by droppingr the cable from the grip at the moment a cer tain point in the line is reached. If the cable is dropped too soon, the car is liable to stop before the next cable system can be reached to pick up its cable; if too late, either the cable or grip, or both,must break, thereby causing serious delays and expensive repairs. To avoid such mishaps, I attach the mechanism herein shown and described, consisting ofthe following parts, namely:

The cable-way a, cable Z1, carrier-wheels c, and grip CZ are of the usual and. well-known construction.

At a suitable point I place in the bottom of the cable-way or tunnel a an air-cylinder, 71 provided with a piston, yi, and piston-rod passing through any suitable guide, as m, and at the end of said piston-,rod is formed a loop or joint, g, of any suitable form, to which are connected the ropes f and o, acting' in opposite directions, the former advancing from the cylinder h and the latter toward it when performing work. The rope j' is attached to the lower edge of a heavy iron `plate or stop, e, which is provided with a slot in its upper edge, in which plays a grooved pulley, e', which rides on the cable ZJ, which passes through the plate under said pulley. rlhis arrangement holds said plate in place, while at the same Serial No. 296,214. (No model.)

time it allows free motion to the cable. The rope o passes over xed pulley n, so placed as to allow said rope to pass into the center of the well Q, and to the lower end of said rope is attached a weight, P.

The operation of the said mechanism is as follows, namely: In case the cable is not discharged from the grip the plate e comes in contact with it and pushes it along, and thereby the weight is raised and the piston moved along in its cylinder, the elastic resistance of the air becoming greater and greater as the piston advances until finally the grip is brought to rest without injury to any of said machinery. The said cylinder may be either of the compressing or vacuum variety, as may be found most desirable. In this case the vacuum variety is shown, the air passing out through the holej in the rear end of the cylinder, which is shown covered with a closed flap-valve, its open position being indicated by broken outlines. After the grip and car have been stopped and the cable dropped out of the grip, the weight P pulls the piston back to the end of the cylinder, and thus brings all said parts in position to act when the next failure to drop the cable at the right time happens. Then the cable is dropped at its proper place, the grip passes over the plate e. The broken outlines under the grip Cl indicate the position of the cable when it is dropped out of the grip.

The relative proportion of the several parts here shown may of course be varied to suit the requirements, and the mechanism must be so placed that the plate c will bring the grip to rest before any injury can occur to the mechanism.

The well Q is here shown placed in the ground below the cable; but the Weight may easily be arranged to act above the ground, and,in fact, automatic mechanism of any other kind to effect the same end might be substituted; but that is not necessary, only very convenient, as the piston and the several parts might also be forced back by hand or horse power or any other convenient and suitable mechanism.

The essentialfeature of my invention is the use of an elastic stop to the grip to cause its arrest when the cable has failed to pass off the grip.

IOO

As shown in the drawings, the cable has failed to pass out of the grip, which is just in contact with the stop e and has just started the pist-on 1'. i

l. In combination with a grip and cable of a cable railway, a stop, e, attached to an elastic resisting mechanism, whereby a grip carrying a cable may be stopped, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with a grip and cable of a cable railway, a stop, c, attached to the piston of an air cylinder wherein the air is caused to form an elastic resisting medium, whereby a grip carrying a cable `may be stopped, substantially as speciiied. Y

3. In combination with'a grip and cable of a cable railway, a stop, c, attached to an elastic resisting mechanism, whereby a grip carrying a cable may be stopped, and mechanism, as-

set forth, whereby said parts may be returned to their starting-points automatically, substantially as specilied.

4. Incombination with a grip and cable of a cable railway, a stop, e, attached to the piston of an air-cylinder wherein the air is caused to form-an elastic resisting medium, whereby a vgrip carrying a cable may be stopped, and a weight by means of which said parts may be caused to return to their startingpoints automatically, substantially as specified.

5. In combination with a grip4 and cable of a cable railway, a stop, e, provided with a pulley, c, and said stop attached to an elastic resisting mechanism, Wh ereby a grip carrying a cable may be stopped, substantially as specified.

6. In combination with a grip and cable of a cable railway, a stop, c, provided with a pulley, e, and said stop attached to a piston of an air-cylinder wherein the' air is caused to form an elastic resisting medium, whereby a grip carrying a cable may be stopped, substantially as speciied. i

7. In combination with a grip and cable-of a cable railway, a stop, e, provided with a pulley, e, and said stop attached to a piston of an air-cylinder wherein the air is caused to form anelastic resisting medium, whereby a grip carrying a cable may be stopped, and a Weight whereby said parts may automatically be returned to their starting-points, substantially as specified.

THOMAS BRADVVELL. Witnesses:

T. VOGEL, WM. ZIMMERMAN. 

